Poop stuck to 1 week old chicks- What do I do???

[bellabay]

It must be removed or it can stop the chick from peeing & doing poopy & it will die. Use warm water & cotton & wipe till clean. Then put some petro jelly on it to help keep the poop from sticking & making it easier to clesn.

 

[Sea Wolf]

This is an old tread from 2012 but the info here is still good. Chicks (birds) do not pee and poo like mammals. Everything is rolled into one dropping of various consistency. I hold the area under a stream of warm water to soften and flush off the debris with as little to no rubbing as possible. If the skin around the vent is already sore and irritated you can tear it. Get the area clean and then dry it with a tissue. Do NOT put ointment on this as that itself will attract more debris/bedding to it and compound the issue. Take a small pair of scissors and give the chicks butt a haircut. If there is extra, long fluff trim it shorter. The droppings are getting caught up in the fluff.. so trim back the fluff. You don't have to go to the skin. Maybe cut the length in half around the vent to the sides and a little below it. End of issue. I've even had some of my ample bottomed hens get this issue. Same thing without the soaking. I remove the feathers from close to the area and it doesn't happen again.

 

[gracie02]

Help, I'm having the same problem with a two week old chick. Her butt gets covered with white poo and its hardened. I've been washing her several times a day tried soaking her butt too but this stuff doesn't want to come off and I'm afraid I'll hurt her if I try to pull it off. There aren't enough feathers to trim, it's on her skin. Would warm milk or something alkaline but gentle help dissolve it?

 

[mobius]

Wracking my brain about this one...! Maybe try a little olive or coconut oil, baby oil even? Is chick getting enough water ? Etc.

 

[lazy gardener]

You can also improve the chick's digestive system by giving her some grit and some sod/soil from your untreated yard. I'm a huge fan of fermented feed. It does a great job fixing any pasting issues.

 

[gracie02]

I did the Olive Oil, tried Prep H, everything just seemed to be making a big mess so I just stopped all that and was rinsing or giving a tub to loosen and wash off the white caked on poop. But it's getting worse. I've tried giving yogurt, no interest, grated apple, some interest. She's on medicated starter, has had chick grit for about a week, has ACV water and Chick Saver water. Maybe I'll rub some coconut oil on it to see if it softens it. It's really binded to her skin.

So, fermented feed...how? In the past I cultured mixed grains with a starter and they loved that, but that was for my adult hens. I've never made FF for chicks.

Thanks!

 

[lazy gardener]

I did the Olive Oil, tried Prep H, everything just seemed to be making a big mess so I just stopped all that and was rinsing or giving a tub to loosen and wash off the white caked on poop. But it's getting worse. I've tried giving yogurt, no interest, grated apple, some interest. She's on medicated starter, has had chick grit for about a week, has ACV water and Chick Saver water. Maybe I'll rub some coconut oil on it to see if it softens it. It's really binded to her skin.

So, fermented feed...how? In the past I cultured mixed grains with a starter and they loved that, but that was for my adult hens. I've never made FF for chicks.

Thanks!

Read Tikki Jane's article. You can click on it at the bottom of my post.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

One of the chicks I bought had that when I bought her. I looked it up and found the best and easiest way to take care of it was to run her bum under warm water until the poo broke up. Once it was gone and her vent was cleared, I dried her bum good with papertowels. I had only gotten her bum wet, so I only had to try the bum. I made sure she was good and dry and then put her back with her 'siblings'. No problems since then.

 

[Sea Wolf]

I did the Olive Oil, tried Prep H, everything just seemed to be making a big mess so I just stopped all that and was rinsing or giving a tub to loosen and wash off the white caked on poop. But it's getting worse. I've tried giving yogurt, no interest, grated apple, some interest. She's on medicated starter, has had chick grit for about a week, has ACV water and Chick Saver water. Maybe I'll rub some coconut oil on it to see if it softens it. It's really binded to her skin.

So, fermented feed...how? In the past I cultured mixed grains with a starter and they loved that, but that was for my adult hens. I've never made FF for chicks.

Thanks!

Firstly, stop feeding the chick anything but chick starter. Yogurt and other things are going to simply kill it. None of that is helping and probably making it worse. Get rid of the grit and feed them ALL nothing but the chick starter. For the pasted on stuff you are going to have to soak it with warm water. It's not going to come off fast. You need to be patient. It might take a half hour or more to soften it all. Hold the chick and keep the area under a stream of warm water. Rub the surface gently as it softens until it is all gone. Do not put anything on the area even if it looks sore. You are compounding the issue by putting stuff on there that just attracts more debris. Dry the chick after so it does not get chilled and put it back with the others. They should be on clean shavings. Feed them the chick starter and nothing else. No treats .. nothing. I would also get rid of the water additives. The chick starter has everything that they need in it. If the chick has an exceptionally fuzzy butt, then trim some of the fluff away from under the vent. Check them every day to see if the problem is re occurring and wash again if needed. Once they get back on track with a proper diet the problem should resolve.

 

[gracie02]

Thanks, I'll give this a try.